Byron Black
Zimbabwean tennis player
Byron Hamish Black (born 6 October 1969) is a former touring professional tennis and Davis Cup player for Zimbabwe.
Personal life
He is the son of Donald Black and Velia Black and brother to Wayne Black and Cara , who were also professional tennis players. He is married to Fiona Black, and has children. He attended the University of Southern California and was named an All-American by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).[ 1]
Tennis career
Black started playing tennis at a young age at his father’s grass court in Highlands , and played the game for Lewisham Primary School in his hometown. He played for the tennis team when he moved to the Oriel Boys High School , where he was exposed to other future Davis Cup players for Zimbabwe, like Greig Rodgers and Mark Gurr .
Pro tour
In 1995 , Black was a US Open quarterfinalist, and in 2000 , he reached the same round at Wimbledon . His career-high singles ranking was world No. 22, which he achieved in June 1996.
An accomplished doubles player, Black became world No. 1 in doubles in February 1994. He won the 1994 French Open partnering Jonathan Stark . Black was a doubles finalist in three other majors, the 1994 and 2001 Australian Opens and the 1996 Wimbledon Championships .
Black is one of the few professional players to have played with a double-handed forehand.[ 2]
Black formed the core of the Zimbabwe Davis Cup team with his brother Wayne.
Career finals
Doubles: 41 (22 titles, 19 runner-ups)
Legend
Grand Slam (1–3)
ATP Masters Series (5–5)
ATP Championship Series (3–4)
ATP Tour (13–7)
Finals by surface
Hard (14–12)
Clay (4–2)
Grass (1–2)
Carpet (3–3)
Result
No.
Date
Tournament
Surface
Partner
Opponents
Score
Loss
1.
Apr 1992
Hong Kong , British Hong Kong
Hard
Byron Talbot
Brad Gilbert Jim Grabb
2–6, 1–6
Win
1.
Apr 1993
Durban , South Africa
Hard
Lan Bale
Johan de Beer Marcos Ondruska
7–6, 6–2
Loss
2.
Jul 1993
Newport , U.S.
Grass
Jim Pugh
Javier Frana Christo van Rensburg
6–4, 1–6, 6–7
Win
2.
Jul 1993
Washington, D.C. , U.S.
Hard
Rick Leach
Grant Connell Patrick Galbraith
6–4, 7–5
Loss
3.
Aug 1993
Schenectady , U.S.
Hard
Brett Steven
Bernd Karbacher Andrei Olhovskiy
6–2, 6–7, 1–6
Win
3.
Oct 1993
Basel , Switzerland
Hard (i)
Jonathan Stark
Brad Pearce Dave Randall
3–6, 7–5, 6–3
Win
4.
Oct 1993
Toulouse , France
Hard (i)
Jonathan Stark
David Prinosil Udo Riglewski
7–5, 7–6
Win
5.
Oct 1993
Vienna , Austria
Carpet (i)
Jonathan Stark
Mike Bauer David Prinosil
6–3, 7–6
Win
6.
Nov 1993
Paris , France
Carpet (i)
Jonathan Stark
Tom Nijssen Cyril Suk
4–6, 7–5, 6–2
Loss
4.
Jan 1994
Adelaide , Australia
Hard
David Adams
Mark Kratzmann Andrew Kratzmann
4–6, 3–6
Loss
5.
Jan 1994
Australian Open , Melbourne
Hard
Jonathan Stark
Jacco Eltingh Paul Haarhuis
7–6, 3–6, 4–6, 3–6
Loss
6.
Feb 1994
San Jose , U.S.
Hard (i)
Jonathan Stark
Rick Leach Jared Palmer
6–4, 4–6, 4–6
Win
7.
Feb 1994
Memphis , U.S.
Hard (i)
Jonathan Stark
Jim Grabb Jared Palmer
7–6, 6–4
Loss
7.
Feb 1994
Indian Wells , U.S.
Hard
Jonathan Stark
Grant Connell Patrick Galbraith
5–7, 3–6
Win
8.
Jun 1994
French Open , Paris
Clay
Jonathan Stark
Jan Apell Jonas Björkman
6–4, 7–6
Win
9.
Aug 1994
Toronto , Canada
Hard
Jonathan Stark
Patrick McEnroe Jared Palmer
6–4, 6–4
Loss
8.
Oct 1994
Sydney Indoor , Australia
Hard (i)
Jonathan Stark
Jacco Eltingh Paul Haarhuis
4–6, 6–7
Loss
9.
Oct 1994
Tokyo Indoor , Japan
Hard (i)
Jonathan Stark
Grant Connell Patrick Galbraith
3–6, 6–3, 4–6
Loss
10.
Nov 1994
Paris, France
Carpet (i)
Jonathan Stark
Jacco Eltingh Paul Haarhuis
6–3, 6–7, 5–7
Loss
11.
Jan 1995
Adelaide, Australia
Hard
Grant Connell
Jim Courier Patrick Rafter
6–7, 4–6
Loss
12.
May 1995
Hamburg , Germany
Clay
Andrei Olhovskiy
Wayne Ferreira Yevgeny Kafelnikov
1–6, 6–7
Win
10.
May 1995
Bologna , Italy
Clay
Jonathan Stark
Libor Pimek Vince Spadea
7–5, 6–3
Win
11.
Nov 1995
Moscow , Russia
Carpet (i)
Jonathan Stark
Tommy Ho Brett Steven
6–4, 3–6, 6–3
Win
12.
Feb 1996
Dubai , UAE
Hard
Grant Connell
Karel Nováček Jiří Novák
6–0, 6–1
Loss
13.
Mar 1996
Philadelphia , U.S.
Carpet (i)
Grant Connell
Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde
6–7, 2–6
Loss
14.
Apr 1996
New Delhi , India
Hard
Sandon Stolle
Jonas Björkman Nicklas Kulti
6–4, 4–6, 4–6
Win
13.
May 1996
Rome , Italy
Clay
Jonathan Stark
Libor Pimek Byron Talbot
6–2, 6–3
Win
14.
Jun 1996
Halle , Germany
Grass
Grant Connell
Yevgeny Kafelnikov Daniel Vacek
6–1, 7–5
Loss
15.
Jul 1996
Wimbledon , England
Grass
Grant Connell
Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde
6–4, 1–6, 3–6, 2–6
Win
15.
Aug 1996
New Haven , U.S.
Hard
Grant Connell
Jonas Björkman Nicklas Kulti
6–4, 6–4
Loss
16.
May 1997
Rome, Italy
Clay
Alex O'Brien
Mark Knowles Daniel Nestor
3–6, 6–4, 5–7
Win
16.
Apr 1998
Hong Kong
Hard
Alex O'Brien
Neville Godwin Tuomas Ketola
7–5, 6–1
Loss
17.
Mar 1999
London , England
Carpet (i)
Wayne Ferreira
Tim Henman Greg Rusedski
3–6, 6–7(6–8)
Win
17.
Aug 1999
Los Angeles , U.S.
Hard
Wayne Ferreira
Goran Ivanišević Brian MacPhie
6–2, 7–6(7–4)
Loss
18.
Aug 1999
Montreal , Canada
Hard
Wayne Ferreira
Jonas Björkman Patrick Rafter
6–7(5–7) , 4–6
Win
18.
Aug 1999
Cincinnati , U.S.
Hard
Jonas Björkman
Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde
6–3, 7–6(8–6)
Win
19.
Nov 1999
Stuttgart Indoor , Germany
Hard (i)
Jonas Björkman
David Adams John-Laffnie de Jager
6–7(6–8) , 7–6(7–2) , 6–0
Win
20.
Feb 2000
Mexico City , Mexico
Clay
Donald Johnson
Gastón Etlis Martín Rodríguez
6–3, 7–5
Win
21.
Jan 2001
Chennai , India
Hard
Wayne Black
Barry Cowan Mosé Navarra
6–4, 6–3
Loss
19.
Jan 2001
Australian Open , Melbourne
Hard
David Prinosil
Jonas Björkman Todd Woodbridge
1–6, 7–5, 4–6, 4–6
Win
22.
Sep 2001
Shanghai , China
Hard
Thomas Shimada
John-Laffnie de Jager Robbie Koenig
6–2, 3–6, 7–5
Singles: 10 (2 titles, 8 runner-ups)
Result
No.
Date
Tournament
Surface
Opponent
Score
Loss
1.
Jan 1996
Adelaide , Australia
Hard
Yevgeny Kafelnikov
6–7, 6–3, 1–6
Loss
2.
Apr 1996
New Delhi , India
Hard
Thomas Enqvist
2–6, 6–7
Win
1.
Apr 1996
Seoul , South Korea
Hard
Martin Damm
7–6, 6–3
Loss
3.
Apr 1998
Hong Kong
Hard
Kenneth Carlsen
2–6, 0–6
Loss
4.
Apr 1998
Tokyo , Japan
Hard
Andrei Pavel
3–6, 4–6
Loss
5.
Jun 1998
Nottingham , England
Grass
Jonas Björkman
3–6, 2–6
Win
2.
Apr 1999
Chennai , India
Hard
Rainer Schüttler
6–4, 1–6, 6–3
Loss
6.
Nov 1999
Moscow , Russia
Carpet (i)
Yevgeny Kafelnikov
6–7, 4–6
Loss
7.
Feb 2000
Memphis , USA
Hard (i)
Magnus Larsson
2–6, 6–1, 3–6
Loss
8.
Jun 2000
Nottingham , England
Grass
Sébastien Grosjean
6–7, 3–6
Key
W
F
SF
QF
#R
RR
Q#
DNQ
A
NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
Doubles
Tournament
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
Career SR
Career win–loss
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open
A
A
A
2R
1R
F
1R
2R
3R
1R
2R
2R
F
3R
0 / 11
18–11
French Open
A
A
A
1R
1R
W
2R
2R
1R
1R
2R
2R
1R
3R
1 / 11
12–10
Wimbledon
A
A
2R
1R
QF
3R
3R
F
2R
1R
1R
3R
1R
2R
0 / 12
17–12
US Open
2R
A
A
1R
2R
3R
QF
1R
1R
3R
SF
1R
2R
A
0 / 11
14–11
Grand Slam SR
0 / 1
0 / 0
0 / 1
0 / 4
0 / 4
1 / 4
0 / 4
0 / 4
0 / 4
0 / 4
0 / 4
0 / 4
0 / 4
0 / 3
1 / 45
N/A
Annual win–loss
1–1
0–0
1–1
1–4
4–4
15–3
6–4
7–4
3–4
2–4
6–4
4–4
6–4
5–3
N/A
61–44
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells
NME
2R
A
A
A
F
2R
SF
2R
2R
1R
1R
QF
A
0 / 9
9–8
Miami
NME
A
A
A
SF
SF
SF
SF
QF
3R
1R
QF
2R
A
0 / 9
17–9
Monte Carlo
NME
A
A
A
A
A
2R
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
0 / 1
0–1
Rome
NME
A
A
A
A
A
1R
W
F
A
A
QF
A
A
1 / 4
11–3
Hamburg
NME
A
A
A
A
A
F
A
A
A
A
2R
A
A
0 / 2
4–2
Canada
NME
A
A
A
2R
W
2R
QF
1R
1R
F
A
1R
A
1 / 8
9–7
Cincinnati
NME
A
A
A
A
QF
SF
QF
1R
1R
W
A
2R
A
1 / 7
10–6
Stuttgart (Stockholm)
NME
A
A
A
A
A
QF
2R
A
1R
W
A
A
A
1 / 4
5–3
Paris
NME
A
A
A
W
F
2R
SF
1R
2R
2R
1R
A
A
1/ 8
11–7
Masters Series SR
N/A
0 / 1
0 / 0
0 / 0
1 / 3
1 / 5
0 / 9
1 / 7
0 / 6
0 / 6
2 / 6
0 / 5
0 / 4
0 / 0
5 / 52
N/A
Annual win–loss
N/A
1–0
0–0
0–0
9–2
14–4
9–9
12–6
6–6
4–6
13–4
5–5
3–4
0–0
N/A
76–46
Year-end ranking
586
381
149
90
5
6
18
4
70
70
10
53
34
106
N/A
References
External links
Current ATP world No. 1 in bold, as of week of 25 November 2024[update] [ 1]
ATP rankings was introduced on 1 March 1976
1–5 6–10 11–15 16–20 21–25 26–30 31–35 36–40 41–45 46–50 51–55 56–60 61–65
(year first held/year last held – number of weeks (w))
weeks record underlined.